Malaysian Water Company Claims To Have Run Dryby Pratap Chatterjee, CorpWatch BlogAugust 1st, 2012Syabas, a private water company in Malaysia, has threatened to start water rationing in the state of Selangor after claiming that it had almost no water reserves left. Critics claim that the threat is a ploy to win more lucrative contracts and to favor a rival political party.

Bolivia pushes back against Swiss commodities giant Glencoreby Carmelo Ruiz-Marrero, CorpWatch BlogJuly 24th, 2012Glencore corporation, the secretive Swiss commodities giant which has become one of the world's biggest trader of grain, oil and minerals, has hit an unlikely roadblock. The Bolivian government nationalized the Colquiri tin and zinc mine, the third Glencore asset to be seized by the state in five years.

Fracking Billionaire Faces Shareholder Angerby Pratap Chatterjee, CorpWatch BlogJune 8th, 2012Aubrey McClendon, the founder and CEO of Oklahoma-based Chesapeake Energy, who championed natural gas to the extent of paying environmental groups to oppose coal, is facing angry shareholders for his profligate ways. Chesapeake is one of the leading users of fracking - an environmentally questionable method of extracting natural gas.

Ikea Furniture Made From Ancient Russian Treesby Pratap Chatterjee, CorpWatch BlogMay 31st, 2012Kalevala, a 19th century epic poem from Finland, was inspired by traditional verses from the ancient forests on the border of central Finland and Russia. Today some of the 600 year old trees around the Kalevala national park are being chopped up to make cheap furniture for Ikea, according to activists.

Faking Happiness: Activists Strike Back at Vedanta Ad Campaignby Freny Manecksha, CorpWatch BlogMay 30th, 2012Vedanta Resources, a UK based mining and metals company with numerous projects in India, is attempting to claim to be social responsible via a huge advertising campaign. However activists have struck back by effectively using social media tools to counter Vedanta's claims.

Repsol Sues Argentina for $10 Billion Over YPF Nationalizationby Carmelo Ruiz-Marrero, CorpWatch BlogMay 18th, 2012Repsol, a multinational based in Spain, has brought a class action lawsuit in New York courts against the Argentine government for the re-nationalization of YPF, the former Argentine state oil company. Environmentalists question both parties over the impact of the company.

Enbridge, Bank of America CEOs Targeted for Extreme Energy Impactsby Pratap Chatterjee, CorpWatch BlogMay 10th, 2012Protestors targeted annual general meetings of Enbridge and Bank of America this week for the devastating environmental consequences of extracting energy from two new and unconventional sources: tar sands and mountain top coal.

North Dakota Shale Boom Displaces Tribal Residentsby Pratap Chatterjee, CorpWatch BlogApril 25th, 2012A shale oil boom in North Dakota is displacing residents from the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation. Fires light up the sky every night as natural gas is flared off while the ground water has been contaminated with toxic chemicals.

Lukoil Threatens Arctic Reindeerby Pratap Chatterjee, CorpWatch BlogApril 23rd, 2012An oil spill in northern Russia from a joint venture between Lukoil and Bashneft has damaged fragile reindeer pastures in yet another blow to the indigenous Nenets people. Environmental activists have warned about such disasters for decades but few precautions have been taken by the oil companies.

Glencore Allegedly Buys Copper From Ten Year Old Minersby Pratap Chatterjee, CorpWatch BlogApril 17th, 2012Children as young as ten in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, dig for cobalt and copper which they then sell to Switzerland-based Glencore, the world’s largest commodities company, according to a new BBC investigation.

Peru’s Illegal Hardwood Timber Trade
by Pratap Chatterjee, CorpWatch BlogApril 11th, 2012Grupo Bozovich - Peru's biggest hardwood exporter - has been accused of harvesting illegal timber, in a new report by the Environmental Investigation Agency. The Laundering Machine report claims that many of the timber certificates do not represent the actual source of the wood.

Green Tribunal Weighs Multinational Projects in Indiaby Pratap Chatterjee, CorpWatch BlogApril 9th, 2012Two controversial multinational projects in Orissa, an eastern Indian state, face high level decisions in the next few weeks: a bauxite mine in the Niyamgiri hills planned by Vedanta of the UK and an iron and steel refinery in Jagatsinghpur being developed by POSCO of South Korea.

Fracking South Africaby Pratap Chatterjee, CorpWatch BlogMarch 29th, 2012The Karoo desert in the Western Cape region of South Africa is threatened by companies like Shell, the Anglo-Dutch oil company, Falcon Oil & Gas and Bundu Oil & Gas that want to frack for natural gas.

Chevron & Transocean Back in the Dock Over Oil Spillsby Pratap Chatterjee, CorpWatch BlogMarch 22nd, 2012Brazil has demanded that 17 Chevron and Transocean executives surrender their passports while they await the outcome of criminal charges brought against them for a spill that took place off the coast of Rio de Janeiro last November. Both companies have been in trouble for similar problems in the past.

U.S. Supreme Court: Can Multinationals Be Sued for Crimes?by Pratap Chatterjee, CorpWatch BlogMarch 1st, 2012Barinem Kiobel was executed on November 10, 1995 by the military dictatorship of General Sani Abacha of Nigeria. Almost 16 years later, the U.S. Supreme Court is poised to decide whether Shell, the Anglo-Dutch oil multinational, can be held responsible for his death.

Green Deserts: The Palm Oil Conflictby Melody Kemp, Special to CorpWatchFebruary 16th, 2012Wilmar of Singapore, the world’s biggest global processor and merchandiser of palm oil, has come in for harsh criticism for the environmental and social impact of its Indonesian plantations. The allegations also raise serious questions about the role of WWF and the Round Table on Sustainable Palm Oil.

Keystone Pipeline Faces Indigenous Trans-Border Oppositionby Geoff Dembicki, Special to CorpWatchOctober 4th, 2011TransCanada is seeking permission to build a 1,661-mile-long oil pipeline to carry crude from Alberta's oil sands to refineries on the Texas Gulf Coast. Tribal leaders from both sides of the border have joined environmental activists to oppose the project.

Burmese Crossroads: Oil & Gas Rush Stokes Civil Warby Matthew F Smith, Special to CorpWatchJuly 26th, 2011Chinese and South Korean companies are leading an investor rush to Burma to build lucrative cross-country pipelines to deliver Saudi oil and Burmese natural gas to China. Poor communities have been displaced and allegations of human rights abuses are rife in the pipeline's route.

Toxic Pop: How Tar Sands Fuel Disposable Cansby Geoff Dembicki, Special to CorpWatchJuly 11th, 2011One in six of the 100 billion soda, beer, and juice cans cracked open by North Americans each year owe their existence to an industrial product manufactured from Alberta’s tar sands. The result is an environmental disaster for Canada as well as a major contributor to global warming.

Killing Clean Energy Lawsby Geoff Dembicki, Special to CorpWatchMay 5th, 2011Tar sands from Alberta have enabled Canada to become the largest supplier of crude oil to the U.S. Tom Corcoran, a Washington lobbyist, is paid to promote this rapidly growing industry that produces some of the most emissions-heavy gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel on the planet.